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Three King County residents were identified today as those killed in the crash of a small aircraft on Bald Mountain, just north of Lake Cavanaugh, the Skagit County Sheriff's Office reported.

The victims included Brenda L. Houston, 47, of Enumclaw, pilot of the single-engine airplane, her 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth M. Crews, also of Enumclaw, and Dr. Virgil Becker, 54, of Auburn, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Investigators do not know the cause of the crash. The news release said that Houston was a “very experienced” pilot.

The Cessna 172, was flying from Roach Harbor on San Juan Island to Auburn when it went down.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent out an alert that the airplane was missing around 9 p.m. Sunday, said FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer. The Washington State Department of Transportation Search and Rescue Unit located the crash site. Then the U.S. Navy used a helicopter to drop into the crash site to confirm the three occupants were deceased.

A spokeswoman for the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Kim Martin, says the crew of a Knighthawk search-and-rescue copter used night-vision goggles to help locate the crash site.

This article includes material from the Associated Press.